The Arsenal defender became the first England football captain to lift two major tournament trophies – and a first on foreign soil – after Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty in a dramatic 3-1 comeback shootout triumph over Women’s World Cup holders Spain in Basel.
It was the culmination of a topsy-turvy campaign described by manager Sarina Wiegman as “ridiculous” and likened to a roller coaster by more than one member of her squad in Switzerland.
Leah and European trophies, it just works. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/wUJcbFBJn0
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 28, 2025
Williamson said: “I think, basically, you can have all of those (motivational) words, and sport has all those words circulating all the time, and then you have people that choose, it’s really brave to put that into action and then decide that you’re going to go for it.
“You leave yourself vulnerable, and if you try really, really hard, and it’s not quite enough, then that’s an awful feeling.
“I think to put yourself out there like that, the reward is so great, and we were brave enough to do it, and I think that’s the key to the team.
“And Sarina, I just think she believes in us so much, it’s hard not to believe that yourself. She said the same thing as she said before, ‘we don’t have to win, we really want to win, and we’re capable of winning, so it’s up to you girls’.”
Sunday’s victory was a fairy-tale ending for Kelly, who also scored the extra-time winner at Wembley when England lifted their first major trophy at Euro 2022.
In January, the 27-year-old was feeling like an outcast at Manchester City, to the point of wondering if she would carry on in football, desperate for more playing time to earn her spot on England’s plane to Switzerland.
Kelly secured a deadline-day loan to Arsenal, since signing a permanent contract with the Women’s Champions League winners that looked increasingly like a great deal for the Gunners with each passing day of this tournament.
Williamson fought through an ankle issue in Switzerland, and it was Kelly who reassured her clubmate after Cata Coll saved the England captain’s penalty in the final.
“I hit it a bit too low,” said Williamson. “I’d have put it a bit higher if I could go back, but on the way back, Chloe said to me, ‘don’t worry about it, don’t worry about it’.
It’s a good morning to wake up as EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/FPxcyJKkK8
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 28, 2025
“And I think if there’s anybody who is going to tell me that in a penalty shootout, I’ll take it off her.”
England forward Lauren Hemp had no words to describe how she felt after watching Kelly fire the winner past Coll.
She said: “It’s hard to describe, I’m speechless, it’s incredible. The fight this team has shown from minute one of the tournament to now, it’s incredible and it’s nothing short of what this group deserves.
“I feel like this team has shown belief throughout every single fixture and even when it went to penalties, we all believed.”
The Lionesses won Euro 2025 despite leading for just four minutes and 52 seconds of the entire knockout stages, including stoppage time.
Presented with that statistic, Hemp added: “It’s amazing and this group is so special. The grit, the determination we showed, it’s not luck.
“It doesn’t happen once, twice or three times for it to be luck. This is pure determination from this group. We’re all knackered, we’re all absolutely exhausted and we deserve that.”
